Communication based on variable-sized local area network identifiers

Abstract

Various example embodiments for supporting communications for a network (e.g., a local area network (LAN), a virtual LAN (VLAN), or the like) based on use of an identifier of the network are presented. Various example embodiments for supporting communications for a VLAN based on use of a VLAN identifier (VID) of the VLAN are presented. Various example embodiments for supporting communications of a VLAN based on use of a VID of the VLAN may be configured to support use of a variable sized encoding of the VID (denoted herein as an xVID). Various example embodiments for supporting communications of a VLAN based on use of an xVID for the VLAN may be configured to support use of an xVID that is encoded using a set of fixed-sized identifier units where a number of fixed-sized identifier units used to encode the VID in the xVID is based on the VID.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus, comprising:
 at least one processor; and 
 at least one memory including a set of instructions; 
 wherein the set of instructions is configured to, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
 support communication of a packet including an encoding of a virtual local area network identifier of a virtual local area network, wherein the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier has a size that is based on the virtual local area network identifier, wherein the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier is based on a set of identifier units, wherein a number of identifier units in the set of identifier units is based on the virtual local area network identifier. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the set of identifier units includes one or more fixed-sized identifier units. 
     
     
       3. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the identifier units in the set of identifier units encode respective portions of the virtual local area network identifier. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein, for each of the identifier units in the set of identifier units, the respective identifier unit includes a first set of bits encoding a respective portion of the virtual local area network identifier and a second set of bits indicative as to whether the respective identifier unit is a final identifier unit in the set of identifier units. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the first set of bits includes seven bits and the second set of bits includes one bit. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each of the identifier units in the set of identifier units has a size of one byte. 
     
     
       7. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the set of identifier units includes at least two identifier units, wherein the virtual local area network identifier is encoded across the at least two identifier units in host byte order. 
     
     
       8. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier of the local area network is included within a virtual local area network tag. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the virtual local area network tag includes a tag protocol identifier, a priority code point, and a drop eligible indicator. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the tag protocol identifier is configured to indicate that the virtual local area network identifier is encoded using the set of identifier units. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein, to support communication of the packet, the set of instructions is configured to, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
 receive an original packet; 
 insert the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier of the virtual local area network within the original packet to form the packet; and 
 transmit the packet including the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier of the virtual local area network. 
 
     
     
       12. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein, to support communication of the packet, the set of instructions is configured to, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
 receive the packet including the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier of the virtual local area network; 
 remove the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier of the virtual local area network from the packet to form a modified packet; and 
 transmit the modified packet. 
 
     
     
       13. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein, to support communication of the packet, the set of instructions is configured to, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
 generate, based on the virtual local area network identifier, the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier of the virtual local area network. 
 
     
     
       14. The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein, to generate the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier of the virtual local area network, the set of instructions is configured to, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
 determine, based on the virtual local area network identifier, a number of identifier units in the set of identifier units to be used to encode the virtual local area network identifier; and 
 encode, within the set of identifier units based on the number of identifier units and one or more properties of the set of identifier units, the virtual local area network identifier. 
 
     
     
       15. The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more properties of the set of identifier units includes an identifier unit size of each of the identifier units in the set of identifier units. 
     
     
       16. The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein, to generate the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier of the virtual local area network, the set of instructions is configured to, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
 determine a number of bits n in an available identifier unit available for use in the set of identifier units; 
 determine a maximum value supportable by the available identifier unit based on n−1 raised to a power of two; 
 determine a number of identifier units for the set of identifier units based on a division of the virtual local area network identifier by the maximum value supportable by the available identifier unit and based on a modulo operation of the virtual local area network identifier by the maximum value supportable by the available identifier unit; 
 determine a number of bits for the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier of the virtual local area network based on a multiplication of the number of identifier units for the set of identifier units and the number of bits n in the available identifier unit; 
 create a data structure for the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier of the virtual local area network, wherein the data structure has a size equal to the number of bits for the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier of the virtual local area network; and 
 generate the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier of the virtual local area network based on reading of a set of bits of the virtual local area network identifier of the virtual local area network into the data structure. 
 
     
     
       17. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier is a variable-sized encoding. 
     
     
       18. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the virtual local area network is supported based on a bridging network, a provider bridged network, a provider backbone bridged network, a shortest path bridging network, or a network virtualization overlay network. 
     
     
       19. A method, comprising:
 supporting communication of a packet including an encoding of a virtual local area network identifier of a virtual local area network, wherein the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier has a size that is based on the virtual local area network identifier, wherein the encoding of the virtual local area network identifier is based on a set of identifier units, wherein a number of identifier units in the set of identifier units is based on the virtual local area network identifier. 
 
     
     
       20. An apparatus, comprising:
 at least one processor; and 
 at least one memory storing a set of instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
 support communication of a packet including a virtual local area network tag encoding a virtual local area network identifier of a virtual local area network, wherein the virtual local area network tag encodes the virtual local area network identifier using a set of identifier units, wherein a number of identifier units in the set of identifier units that encodes the virtual local area network identifier is based on the virtual local area network identifier.